Easy digest: how does climate change impact the LGBTQIA+ community?

How does climate change affect the LGBTQIA+ community, and what does it mean for philanthropy?

As Pride Month draws to a close, at Impatience Earth we have created a special ‘Easy Digest’ exploring climate change from an LGBTQIA+ perspective. Our research revealed that:

• LGBTQIA+ people are already more vulnerable to climate change, and identification with a historically disadvantaged group is a factor which can increase marginalisation and thus vulnerability in disasters and in environments such as emergency shelters. LGBTQIA+ people are statistically more likely to be on lower incomes and homeless due to stigma. These factors in turn put them at greater risk of exposure to climate-related issues such as air pollution and extreme weather.
• When climate action and response planning does not take into account the specific vulnerabilities of a group, it is unlikely that their needs will be met before, during or after a disaster. Only six countries in 2021 included LGBTQIA+ people in their official policies related to disaster preparedness, response or recovery
• LGBTQIA+ people are also more likely to suffer from poor mental health, and the added burden of eco-anxiety can put them at greater risk of mental illness
• Rainbow-washing crops up every year during Pride Month, and campaigners have highlighted that while corporates do take action to support the LGBTQIA+ community, many simultaneously profit from activities that make the queer community more vulnerable. For example, Barclays was one of the biggest Pride in London sponsors, yet it also financed more fossil fuel projects than any of the UK’s largest banks in the months leading up to COP26. Amazon Prime Video was also a sponsor. Amazon emitted the equivalent of 60.64 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020 – more than countries like Portugal, Finland, and Morocco.

What does this all mean for climate philanthropy?

• Funders should apply an intersectional lens to their work to recognise the queer community’s unique risks from climate change.
• Philanthropy is more risk-tolerant, and so can support groups that advocate for more inclusive climate policies and individual campaigners who call out issues such as ‘rainbow-washing’
• Funders should look to support queer-led organisations, capacity building, advocating for gender and LGBTQIA+ supportive policies and amplify queer climate voices in the sector, for example at climate panel events.
• Queer solutions to the climate crisis should be part of every funder’s strategy. Examples such as PermaQueer and GiveOut’s Climate Fund show how impact can be increased by supporting solutions from the LGBTQIA+ community.